Practitioners of the Kwan Um School of Zen bow every morning. The Cambridge Zen Center in Massachusetts was founded by students of Zen Master Seung Sahn, the first Korean Zen master to teach in the west.

Beginners to Zen practice can start simply with 3 bows and 10 minutes of sitting meditation.

Why bow? “Bowing practice means that your body and your mind become one very quickly. Also, it is a very good way to take away lazy mind, desire mind and angry mind,” explains Zen Master Dae Bong. Bowing is a way to bring the wandering mind back to our body in the present. It is repentance for delusions we cling to. Bow with the intent to find your true nature and save all beings from suffering.

” In clear mind, there is no like or dislike, only the sound of the voice. ” KUSZ Chanting Book (English & transliterated Korean).